A not so lonely afternoon by the Lake
by Aloxamax
Summary: One-shot. While collecting wood in a forest, Elsword hears the sobs of another and goes to investigate. Who could be source of the sad sound and what will Elsword do about it?


**Disclaimer: **Elsword does not belong to me or else I would have made sure every server had _all _available characters and EXP rates that weren't higher than KR's..

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**A not so lonely afternoon by the Lake**

by **Aloxamax**

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It was under the afternoon sun that we saw the leader of the dubbed 'strongest El search Party' sitting next to a pile of sticks and other pieces of wood.

"I'm supposed to be the leader! Why am I the one being sent to collect wood for the fire!? Stupid Raven.." said the obviously annoyed Elsword, grumbling.

Elsword was a 15 years old boy with red eyes, long, spiky red hair that was tied into a ponytail and long bangs that came at each side of his face. His upper body was armored lightly, with plated armguards and a leather-bound metal chest plate. His legs had thick metal plating at each side along with protection for his feet and a somewhat loose brown belt could be seen adorning his waist. Underneath his armor he wore a long-sleeved shirt colored black along the sleeves and red along his torso; he also wore black shorts with red lining the edges.

His trusty great sword was firmly planted on the ground right next to him; his weapon was something he never parted with as he was always wary of his surroundings when alone and in the open. It was one of the lessons his older sister Elesis almost literally hammered into his head.

The thought of his sister made Elsword smile a sad, wistful smile while fond memories of his childhood passed through his head. They were simpler times where all he ever wanted to do was to keep his sister pleased. It was before finding Conwell, before fighting bandits and nasods, before becoming known as the 'Sheath Knight'.

Sometimes he wished he could return to those times, but before he could delve too deeply into the past, memories of the time spent with his friends brought him back into the present and allowed him to harden his resolve once more! To-!

_*sniff*_

Elsword's musings were put on hold as he snapped his head towards the origin of the sound. He placed his right hand on the handle of his great sword and a red rune started glowing on his left hand, ready to summon the magical scabbard as he stood up to investigate. The pile of wood was left in the grass, forgotten.

His steps were measured but his stance remained loose, to avoid appearing too hostile if the sound was no threat while being prepared in the case it was.

As Elsword approached the source of the… sobs, he realized, he also started to recognize the area he now was in as the fields next to Lake Noah.

The areas surrounding Ruben and Elder were mostly peaceful now thanks to the efforts of the El search Party last year. So, after defeating the Nasod King, his friends decided to take a much needed vacation in Elsword's home region, camping under the stars at the request/pleading of both him and Rena.

Elsword finally managed to reach the lake and spent a few seconds gazing at the all too familiar body of water before finally turning his head and seeing the source of the sobbing, it was a girl. Her back was turned to him so he could only make out her long black hair along with the spear that was laid down on the ground next to her. He silently approached her and when she was within arm's reach he poked her shoulder with his left index.

"Hey, what's wrong?", he said in a gentle whisper, not wanting to startle the girl.

This, however, proved to be the wrong course of action as the girl picked her spear up and with a spin she positioned herself to quickly trust her weapon in his direction before he could even blink. It was only his experience in combat along with his own high reaction speed that allowed him to summon Conwell and position it in front of him, blocking her spear.

"Wow! Why did you attack me all of a sudden!?", said the now angry Elsword.

The girl blinked a few times to clear the tears that were still in her eyes and once she saw the one who touched her wasn't a monster but a boy one or two years younger than her she quickly back-pedaled and started berating herself.

"How dishonorable! To not only let down my guard but to also attack an innocent like that! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!", before the girl could continue to lower her own self-esteem, Elsword quickly un-summoned Conwell and waved his hand in a hurried manner in front of him, trying to reassure the spear user.

"Wait! Don't do that, I'm fine! Nothing happened and you also looked like you were having a bad time so please stop insulting yourself!"

"Muuu~ What were you even doing sneaking around like that? Are you a thief?", doing a complete 180, the girl was now pointing at him in an accusing manner.

"Don't change mannerisms like that! And I'm no thief! My name is Elsword, leader of the strongest El search Party in Elrios!" Elsword heatedly replied to the older girl.

"The Sheath Knight- Oh! How rude of me! I forgot to introduce myself, I'm very sorry." She said while bowing in a formal manner, "My name is Ara from the Haan family and I apologize for attacking you Elsword." She apologized sincerely while looking into his eyes after bowing.

It was at this moment that Elsword got a good look at her, and he couldn't keep his cheeks from slightly reddening.

Ara was slightly taller than Elsword by an inch or two. She had long black hair that cascaded down her back down to her ankles; some of it was done into a ponytail that was being held up by a strange-looking hairpin with the shape of a white fox encircling an orange-gold stone with its body attached to a black flower with five petals and gold lining the edges.

Her skin was a milky white and Elsword got the impression that it was very soft to the touch; he quickly banished that thought before he could get even more embarrassed. Her eyes that were still puffy from having cried earlier were colored similarly to the stone in the hairpin, a pair of orange-gold irises settled in a naturally warm, compassionate look thought he could still see the sadness and the pain behind them.

She was a… well-endowed young woman with breasts that were almost as big as Rena's, Elsword noted, with a brilliant blush adorning his face. Her waist was slim and though the clothes hid it, he was pretty sure she was in very good shape considering the speed and the strength behind her trust. Her legs were very long and slender though not excessively so as there was muscle in them.

Her clothes were something Elsword was not used to seeing; painted in vibrant hues of red and orange along with white and some yellow, they gave her an elegant and traditional look which seemed to fit her in more ways than one…

Ugh! Elsword quickly shook his head from side to side and decided look up to her eyes to avoid thinking about things that could get him in trouble if he was somehow caught doing so.

They stared into each other's eyes for a few minutes before the red-haired boy decided to break the awkward silence that befell upon them.

"Uhh, I came here when I heard your sobs, why were you crying in the first place?", said Elsword with a concerned look on his face.

A flash of pain lit Ara's eyes before she lowered her eyes and spoke quietly.

"It's my older brother… he became someone I don't recognize anymore. I came to Elrios in an effort to find a way to help him but so far I haven't been able to find anything.", said Ara as fresh tears started to gather in her eyes.

Elsword quickly put a hand on her shoulder and made her sit while gently asking her to explain what had happened. He sat next to her all the while keeping a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

Ara, knowing of Elsword's reputation, decided to share with him her story and Aren's, hoping that he might be able to help in some way. She told him how she was the daughter of the Haan Family, a warrior family that protected the seal of the Nine-Tailed-Fox for generations. She explained how her brother, Aren, began his training early and was able to become strong enough to become the Defense Captain of Fahrmann's capital. She then told him of the night that changed her life forever.

The village Ara had lived in had been attacked by an army of demons to take the village's Moon Elstone. How she tried her best to fight back, but was outnumbered and cornered. In the destruction, she fell into a room containing a mysterious altar. A large hairpin that was pinned to the altar was thrown across the floor. She was then approached by her brother, Aren, who had turned into a demon that called himself Ran, the general who was responsible for and had led the invasion. Ran had been corrupted due to the Dark El contaminating the moon's power. Ran had conquered Fahrmann's capital and led his army to retrieve the village's El-fragment.

She missed the clenching of Elsword's free hand when she talked about her brother's intentions of killing her as she was overcome with emotion and threw herself into Elsword's chest, crying. Elsword did nothing but put an arm around her shoulders and leave her to vent.

After a while, when her crying was reduced to a few sniffs, Ara looked up to Elsword to see he had an emotionless look on his face that almost made her recoil, for she had yet to see such an empty expression from the red-head.

Elsword for his part stood up, making Ara sit up at the loss of the body that was supporting her, he then placed both hands on her shoulders and stared intently at her, his face now showing incredible determination.

"Ara, do you still love your brother?", he said seriously and quietly, yet it rang loudly inside of Ara's head. She was hit by memories of her brother and her sparring together, him teaching her how a Haan warrior ought to live, him helping her find her own sense of Justice. Ara looked into Elsword's inquisitive eyes and gave him a watery smile.

"Yes, I do."

"Then there's no need to be sad!", he said with a bright smile that made Ara's cheeks redden and her heart skip a bit. She looked at him confused and he continued.

"While your brother deserves a good beating for making you experience so much pain, if you still love him even now that means that he used to be a great brother and a very strong person. He can still be saved, there's no way your brother would lose to the corruption just like that!", said Elsword with in a reassuring and determined tone.

Ara's eyes widened after hearing this, and the spark of hope that had almost been extinguished earlier was now a raging fire that burned brightly again. She smiled the most pure smile Elsword had ever seen and it was now his turn to blush. She stood up and pulled him into a warm hug, positioning herself under his chin despite being taller and while mumbling _'thank you'_ again and again into his chest.

Elsword only relished in the moment and looked at her with gentle eyes.

"Don't worry Ara, we'll find your brother and we'll save him, that I promise you."

Pulling back a bit so she could look into his eyes, Ara asked what was in her mind right then.

"We?" she said with evident hope in her voice.

"Of course! You're not the only one who has an elder sibling to find! My big sister taught me to never abandon your friends and to always treasure them so it's only natural that I'll help you!"

Ara smiled her angelic smile again after hearing the way she was addressed by Elsword as well as the offer he had made.

"Once again, thank you, Elsword." She softly said.

The red-haired knight who had been reduced to a blushing mess by her smile could do nothing more than look away scratch the back of his head in a sheepish manner. Ara giggled and put her face close to his to deliver a single kiss to his cheek, Elsword completely froze and steam looked like it was about to come out of his ears. The sight only made Ara giggle more.

Later that evening when they went back to retrieve the pile of wood that Elsword was initially supposed to bring back to camp the sheath knight would find it gone, probably materialized into a tree knight and walked away. So, while the rest of Elsword's friends got to know Ara, he was forced back into the nearest forest, now during the night to look for more wood all the while grumbling about_ 'stupid Raven'_,_ 'insubordination'_ and if you strained your ears you could possibly also hear something along of the lines of_ 'her lips were so soft'_ every now and again…

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**AN: Well, Ara Haan was ****_finally_**** released in Elsword NA & LA (and EU as well I think?). Because of that I decided to write a one-shot featuring her and Elsword who are my two favourite characters (it totally wasn't because I couldn't sleep and had nothing better to do), hopefully her name will be added to the character list at some point.**

**Feel free to leave some reviews and favourites if you think this was good enough, for whatever reason..**


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